Roger Federer will miss the rest of the 2020 season after undergoing a second procedure on his right knee, the 20-time Grand Slam singles champion said on Wednesday.

Federer struggled with injury at this year’s Australian Open, where he lost in the semi-final to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, and subsequently underwent surgery on the knee in February.

“A few weeks ago, having experienced a setback during my initial rehabilitation, I had to have an additional quick arthroscopic procedure on my right knee,” the 38-year-old said on Twitter.

With professional tennis disrupted by the pandemic, it remains to be seen how many tournaments Federer will actually miss.

The Swiss also had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in 2016 and missed the second half of that season. When he returned to the tour in 2017, it looked like he had never been away, winning the Australian Open to end a near five-year Grand Slam title drought and adding the Wimbledon title later that year.

The last of Federer’s record 20 Grand Slam singles titles came at the 2018 Australian Open. The closest he has come since was at Wimbledon last year when he lost in the final.

“Now, much like I did leading up to the 2017 season, I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 per cent ready to play at my highest level,” he said. “I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but, I will look forward to see everyone back on Tour at the start of the 2021 season.”

Novak on US Open

Top-ranked Djokovic is thinking of skipping the US Open, if it is played, and instead return to the French Open, which has been postponed to late September.

The US Open recently said it still hopes to hold the tournament as planned in New York. Main-draw play is scheduled to begin on August 31.

Djokovic said the restrictions that would be in place if the US Open is played would be “extreme” and not “sustainable”.